Subspecies: Trimeresurus gramineus barati and T. g. sabahi have been elevated to species status.

Distribution: Not in Pakistan fide KHAN 2002 (pers. comm.). Not listed for the Nicobars by VIJAYAKUMAR & DAVID 2006. Not in China fide VOGEL 2006. Populations previously now belonging to other species have been identified as this species, which has resulted in reports from Pakistan, Nepal, S China, Taiwan, Andaman Islands, Nicobar Islands, Philippine Islands (fide MANTHEY 1983).

Type species: Vipera viridis Daudin, 1803 used to be considered as the type species of the genus Trimeresurus Lacépède, 1804:209. T. gramineus is also the type species of Trimeresurus LACÉPÈDE 1804 sensu strictu based on a reclassification suggested by MALHOTRA & THORPE 2004. This genus would be then diagnosed by the possession of a Type 2 spinose hemipenis, and were distributed in the ‘‘Indian subcontinent’’ (including Sri Lanka), and the Indomalayan region. However, DAVID et al. 2011 designated T. insularis as type species of the genus Trimeresurus.

Etymology

Stuebing & Inger (1999) state that the generic name is derived from “Tri” = three, “mere” = part, and “surus” from Greek “[o]ura” = tail (compare Urodela). The name may have been chosen by Lacépède (1804) because of the tripartite pattern of the snake’s tail.

Boulenger, G.A., Annandale, N., Wall, F. & Regan, C.T. 1907. Reports on a collection of batrachia, reptiles and fish from Nepal and the western Himalayas. Lacertilia. Records of the Indian Museum 1:149—155 - get paper here

Hoser, R.T. 2012. A revision of the Asian pitvipers, referred to the genus Cryptelytrops Cope, 1860, with the creation of a new genus Adelynhoserea to accommodate six divergent species (Serpentes: Viperidae: Crotalinae). Australasian J. Herpetol. 12:6–8. - get paper here

Pope,C.H. & Pope, S.H. 1933. A study of the green pit-vipers of southeastern Asia and Malaysia, commonly identified as Trimeresurus gramineus (SHAW), with description of a new species from Peninsular India. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist. 620: 1-12

Russell,P. 1796. An account of Indian serpents collected on the coast of Coromandel, containing descriptions and drawings of each species, together with experiments and remarks on their several poisons. George Nicol, London, 90 pp.

Vijayakumar, S. P. and Patrick David 2006. Taxonomy, Natural History, and Distribution of the Snakes of the Nicobar Islands (INDIA), based on new materials and with an Emphasis on endemic species. Russian Journal of Herpetology 13 (1): 11 – 40